September 27, 2023 edition

Shout Outs

Share appreciation and gratitude for a fellow CIS employee. Giving a shout out is a great way to recognize an individual or group for their extra effort and talent, and to contribute to a culture of appreciation, community, and kindness.  

Employee Excellence Nominee Spotlight: Clarence Shepard

“Being a brown gay trans person in this world is hard regardless of how progressive an organization strives to be, but working with Clarence and having someone like him always advocating for you with support in any space we take up in a room, he truly makes working here feel safe with all the intersections of who I am. On multiple occasions, he has corrected folks on my pronouns for me, and it might seem simple, but it's a true game changer for not just my work experience but my life.”

Nominate someone for Employee Excellence. Click here for the form and here to learn about employee recognition & appreciation at CIS of Central Texas. 

Committee Sign-Up



Through committees, we create spaces and opportunities for employees to bring their authentic, personal, and professional selves and ideas to the workplace in an environment that elevates the work of Communities In Schools of Central Texas. Committees are a great way to connect with your CISCT colleagues and give input. Please limit your commitment to no more than 2 committees for the 2023-2024 school year and consult with your supervisor about the time commitment before you sign up.

This year we have 4 affinity groups! In Living Color, Neurodiverse Staff Members, Restorative Practices, and Latinidad affinity group.

Committees include: Addressing Substance Misuse, All-Staff, Culture of Philanthropy, Employee Recognition, Family Engagement, Let’s Talk, Mental Health Training Needs, Micro Grants, Program Support Services, Social Committee, Stakeholder Survey Revamp, and the Work Life Balance committee. Click here to learn more!

Click here to sign up by October 20^th.

Finance Department Update

Reminder that on Wednesday September 27^th, finance dept will be at an all-day, off-site retreat.

We will have limited access to emails and TEAMS messages and most likely respond the following day.

Please reach out to Will should your matter be urgent.

Thank you for your patience and support of the finance-accounting team retreat!

New mileage reimbursement form for FY24 is available in Shared file>Members Only>Accounting>FY24 forms

Please make sure to use the new form starting with September mileage reimbursement requests.

Best practice: 1) when submitting mileage to supervisor for approval, include your name and mileage month in the email subject line. For example,

“C Brown September mileage”. 2) Also, name your saved mileage worksheet attached to your email the same way.

3) Supervisors when submitting your approval to [email protected] please copy the staff member.

These actions will greatly help the finance dept. handling your requests.

Thank you in advance.

IN THE KNOW

Our next In the Know virtual all-staff session will be on Tuesday, October 3^rd from 8:30-10:30 a.m. We will have our partners from McClean who administer our annual employee engagement survey on to share about the survey and findings, and our partners at Promise54 who administer our annual Diversity, Equity and Inclusion survey on to share about that survey and findings. Please join if you can.

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87638503958?pwd=ZWlYcWdRaGdaSGJxc3cxT014djVSZz09

Meeting ID: 876 3850 3958

Passcode: 6h0HW1

NEW RESOURCE - BOY Requirements List View in Apollo

• Check out this Requirements Checklist List View created by Crystal Chilcoat, PM at Decker ES 🎉
• Listviews are a great way to customize how you see your students' data in aggregate -- you can view specific fields for records across any object and filter/sort by any fields you'd like. 
• For more information on creating your own List Views, you can review this trailhead guide or stop by an office hours session!

RESOURCE REMINDER - Apollo Walkthrough Videos

• We have put together short videos of Apollo functions based on topics covered in Apollo 101 and 102 training. Please use these videos, paired with the Apollo FAQ doc and the Apollo manual, to reinforce the topics we covered in training over the last few weeks. The videos are linked through the Apollo FAQ doc as well. 

PMD Supports Available



• PMD Office Hours are Mondays 3-4pm and Fridays 8-9am via Teams.
• Email [email protected] if you need support, have questions, or have a feature request/suggestion.
• Apollo FAQs is a new document that contains answers to commonly asked questions. PMD updates this on a weekly basis.

CISCT Job Openings



Click here for a list of available positions!

MH & W Department Updates

Reminder: The field instructor and task supervisor office hours are tomorrow 9/28, 9:30-10:30am. Link is in the Internship TEAMS channel on the calendar. Bring your questions and ideas.

What are Micro Grants?

Micro Grants are small financial awards that are awarded for short-term, impact-oriented projects. Each year direct-service staff have the ability to apply for funding under 3 priority areas: Enhancement of traditional work, Building Youth & Family Voice, and Teacher Training.

Timeline for SY23-24:

Application Information Shared via The Apple 

Oct 4^th

Oct 11^th

Application Opens: Oct 11^th

Application Office Hours  

Oct 12^th @ 3:30-4:30pm

Oct 13^th @ 9-10am

Oct 19^th @ 9-10am

Oct 25^th @ 3:30-4:30pm

Oct 31^st @ 12-1pm

Committee Meetings 

Oct 26^th

Nov: 2^nd, 9^th, 16^th, 30^th

Applications Due: November 1^st

Committee Review Period 

November 6^th – 10^th

Clarification Period 

November 9^th - 15^th

Scoring completed 

November 17^th

Award notifications: November 30^th

Celebrations and highlights from SY22-23 grantees coming soon – stay tuned!

Shared Resources

Soar Works

What you will learn

• Comprehensive information about SSI/SSDI and the disability determination process
• SOAR Critical Components of completing and submitting SSI/SSDI applications

How you will learn it

• Read articles and take “Try-It” quizzes to test your knowledge as you go.
• Complete a Practice Case SSI/SSDI Application Packet (Adult Course) or SSI Application Packet (Child Course) for a fictional applicant and submit to the SAMHSA SOAR TA Center for individualized review and feedback. We provide the progress notes, medical records, interview videos, and all the forms you need! 

Who should take this course?

• Anyone who would like to learn more about SOAR and submitting SSI/SSDI applications! Enrollment in these courses is FREE!
• However, the completion of the Practice Case Application Packet is geared toward case workers who will be assisting adults and/or children with applications once they complete the course.

https://soarworks.samhsa.gov/online-courses

Program Manager Rebecca Ramirez found an app to help her communicate with a a parent who uses sign language, she asked the student to check a couple of examples and he verified that the sign language interpretation was correct.

https://www.handtalk.me/en/app/



available on The App Store and Google Play

YOUTH/ALUMNI OPPORTUNITY 

Click here to access the full job description, share it with your networks, and learn how to apply! 

Congrats this weeks Winner of a Starbucks gift card is Kendra Berry!

CIS Regional Team Retreat in September 2023 at Casa De Miel! (Navarro/Burnet Region in AISD)  

Dobie Admin, Dobie MS CIS Program Manager Nadia Bastien and Dezavala ES AmeriCorps member Jane Koregay at the Austin ISD Campus showcase event.

Julieth Reyes, Edith Rivera and Karín Flórez, meeting at Central Market to create Work and Life Balance Norms for the Care Coordination team!

Overton AmeriCorps members (Emma and Amena) decorated the CIS door to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month on campus

Program Manager Julia Smith at Strawn ES Back to School Night!

Communities In Schools of Central Texas surrounds students with a community of support, empowering them to stay in school and achieve in life.